Opinion: Why Hamas believed the status quo was more dangerous than its 7 October gamble

The events of 7 October cannot be understood outside the long history of Palestinian dispossession, occupation, siege and struggle. They cannot be examined seriously by beginning with the premise that Palestinians must justify their right to resist a system that has dispossessed them for generations. That right is not in question. What is open to question is why Hamas chose this particular course of action at this particular moment, and whether the decision was rational given what its leaders knew and could reasonably have anticipated before 7 October. It also raises the question of whether it was the right strategic choice among the alternatives available to them, and what strategic assessment led them to take such an extraordinary risk. These questions are inevitably viewed through the devastation that followed. Gaza has endured a genocide, as concluded by Amnesty International, B'Tselem, the International Association of Genocide Scholars and the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry, while Human Rights Watch has documented extermination and acts of genocide. Read more: Why Hamas believed the status quo was more dangerous than its 7 October gamble Opinion by Sami Al-Arian A Palestinian man holds a banner reading "The Israeli siege has turned Gaza into a big prison" at a protest against the blockade near the Kerem Shalom crossing in Rafah, southern Gaza, on 10 August 2023 (Said Khatib/AFP)